Vegetable cutter



F. H. MILLER.

VEGETABLE CUTTER April '26 1927.

Filed Aug. 13. 1926 3 Sheets-Shet 1 ATTORNEY I INVENTOR .ikaieftblil J %1 H1 m. -w fi Mi April 2 1927.

a \w x w ATTORNEY A ril 26, 1927.

- F. H. MILLER VEGETABLE CUTTER Filed Ausc. 13. 1926 s sh ets-sheet 3 INVENTOR FmJefa'C/KH J! t Z Z61 I ATTORNEY is provided for adapting the device for cut-' .,ting.the potatoes .in the various manners ap licat on fi led Angiist 13 FREDERICK H. MILLER, OF. PORTLAND OBEGONF V Patented Apr. 26, 1927.

.3 T 1.; Fig

VEGETABL CUTTER.

. p The invention generally relates to vege table cutters and more particularly to that i class of such deviceswhich is adaptable to use for slicing potatoes, for shoe string? or French fries, 1 I I a The invention primarilyseeks to prov de 1 i a hand operated vegetable cutter of the class stated which is simple and economically con- .structed and efiicient in its operation ofi'cutting potatoes as stated, and in which means desired, for overcoming tendency of the po- I theappended claims, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, 1n wh1ch:

taken on they lines 44 and 5.5 r'espectivebles. I

mounted for use. j .In the drawings, 1n

tatoes to ?stick to the .cutting element, and

I for so holding the potato or other vegetable being cut as to automatically effect a'feeding thereof to the cutting elements wlthouton said cutting elements. 7

With the above and other objects in v ew that will hereinafter, appear, the invention further resides in the novel details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all ofwhich willbe first fully described, then beparticularly pointed out 1n dangerto the operator of cutting his hands Figure 1 is a' perspective view ofthe invention. v I Figure 2 is a plan View.

V Figure 3 is a central'vertical section ofthe invention. 0 Figures 4 and 5 are vertical cross sections longitudinal Figure 9 isa detail longitudinal sectionillustrating the French fry cutter unit which like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all of the 1 series figures,1 represents the base frame having extending flanges 2 i for supporting the base upon a suitable support and'the said base '1 is providedalong each lateral edge with a plu-- rality of upstanding, lugs 8, each lateral of lugs being adapted to support a guide posed in parallel relation-and on a common plane.

.rail 4. the said guide rails being dis, I I. p A. plate 211s secured to the base frame mmediately abovef he table face 20 as at 22,

, 1926. Serial No. 12'9,017.

The side rails 4 aresecured' upon the lugs asat5 I The base frame. 1 includes a cross bridge portion 6 in one e'nd thereof and a se cond 'cross bridge portion' 7 intermediately of ,the ends thereoffboth said bridge portions being longitudinally slotted as at 8 to receivethe securing bolts 9 which pass ,therethr'ough and through the respective ends of the knife member 10 provided at its advance end with a horizontal knifefedgelly i pair of tapped lugs 12 adapted to r ec'eive the i i set screws 13 which pass'upwardly through the said lugs and engage the underside of the advance end of the knife member 10.

The bridgeportion 7 i s'provided' Except'forlongitudinal adjustments'per P mitted by the slots -8 that endof'theknife member 10 vwhich is bolted to 'thefl'cross bridge portion 6 is relatively permanentlysecured," while theIother endof the" said knife member against which thejset screws 13 project, isadapted to bevertically adjustable. By loosening up on' the bolts Qpassing through that endof the knifemember and screwingthe setscrew 13 upwardly the The reprovide for a downward movement Ofilhfi said knife edge, thus making it possible to vary the elevation of the saidlhor'iz'o'ntal "knife edge above the top surface of the base frame 1.

A vertical slicer unit 14 is providedis I advance knifeledge 11 maybe moved up i 'wardl'y. to 'a' desired adjustment. verse action of the. bolts and set screws'will secured-to thejbase frame as at 15 in advance or [of the horizontal knife'edge l1. The-unit 14 is in. the nature 10f "a hollow box-like casing adapted to housea plurality ofspacer 1 plates 16 and betweeneach adjacentjpair of spacer plates is mounte'da razor bla de 17,the j said'sp'acer plates andblade sbeing clamped "to positio'nby the clamp screws 18 {which pass through one end of the boX-likejhousing' and engage the nearest plate and which screws are accessible through holes 19"pro-;

vided in one side flange 2 of the base frame.

In advance of the position of the slicer unit the base frame is-provided witha table surface 20 which, it will. be noticed, is. in the'n'ature of a depression and is on a lower level than the top surface of the box-like.

casingof the slicer unitand is hereinafter termed the, low table fface.

the top surface of the said plate being flush with the top surface of the box-like casing of the slicer unit.

It is to be understood that my iiprovcd vegetable cutter is adaptable fora three fold purpose of slicing up potatoes for shoe string fries, for French fries or for the ordinary slices used in making German or an fries orfS aratoga chips.

When it is desired to slice potatoes for the" i for slicing French fries, the plate 21fis re- 'f' into use. In thiscase, the slicer unit 23 illus moved. and the low table face. is brought i'trated in Figure 7 is nounted in place in 'f .;the unit 14 hereinbefore described. It will "be observed thatthe unit 23 has its, blades i spacedgmuch wider apartthanthose of the firs'tinentioned unit. and when this unit is fjusiedythe knife edge 11 is adjusted toiasuitable. corresponding elevation. It will also 7 be observed thatthe securing lugs by. which H the unit is secured to the base frame as at 115 are so positioned that the top surface ofthe unit will. be positioned flush with the if f: 10W tablet face 20.

. iously as a po ato V top surface of the plate 21 on thetable face isnioved across the 2Q, as the case may be, and across the slicer unit'l/i or23g, as the case maybe, the ver tic al blades 17 of the slicer unit will cut equifjdistantly spaced vertical kerfs .in the lower 4U portion of the potato. 1011 continued move;

mee ng p'otato is hrouglit into engagement with the transverse knife edge llwhen the saidknife edge Wlll traverse 'the kerfs cut by thebladeslff and sever the lower portion o'f'the potat-o into a plurality of long slices sub stantially square in cross section and.

. i adaptable for use in making shoe string or f Erenchfriesf', according to. which of the slicer units is employed.

,1 If 'it; isdesired tasiniply slice the pototof .l for use in making German fries or Saratpga chips, the plate 21 which forms the.

1 upper table face is mounted and the, solid plate 2 l is' used as a replacement for the jslicer unit 23. This plate isillustrated in 1 Figure 8 and the mounting lugs ofthe said plate are so positioned thatfwhen mounted theupperfiat-face ofthe plate will beposi-,

tioned on a plate on a plane flush with that o foffthe' plate 21 sothat when a potato is over ithe plate 2 1 no :vertical lgerfs 'will be cut therein aswhen the slicer units h are used but a, horizontal slice only will-be; fis lir el hss id ota is. brpilghtin o "secured engagement with the; properly adjusted transverse knife ed e 11.

In the use of devices of this type much difficulty. isuoccasioned in feeding the potatoes to the cutting elements and much dangerof cutting the hands of theoperator is alsopresent, In my present invention I provide ineans which, While actuated by hand ,operatioinserves,automatically to feed the Po at s- 0 h rutt ng lem nts in .ner assuri g prop r. cutti g, and s i g erator. I 1 To accomplish this last stated purpose I an extended" hub at each lateral side thereof adaptedit receive oneend' of a guide-rod 27, he guide rod- .being secu ed in h id, hubs as at 29, .Each of the fra1nes25 and 26 also, includes, at eachlateral si-dethereof a guide foot 30 adapted to ri'de on and be guided upstandinghandle portion33 and a ble receiving half groove 34; 1

H Another fra1ne35 is provided intermediately of the'frames 25 and 26 andhas secured thereto asat 36 a block 37,vvhic1,1, like the block 32, is equipped with avegetable rec'eivinghalf groove 38. The frame is also provided with an upstanding handle portion 39 and laterally extended guide lugs l-Q slidably guided upon the rods 27.

Springs 28 are inounted on the guide rods thereof withoutdanger wh t r to h 9 19". 7

-. pro d end fr mes 25 and 2.562 1. h v g by the rails4g, One of the frames "has I thereto as at. 31 a block 32 having an 27 between the guide lugs of theend frame i 26 .and those of the frame. 35, the said springs always tending to forcethe blocks I 32 and 37 togethen ItWill be observed byreference' to Figures 3 and 9 that the half grooves 3 1 and 38 have their opposed faces cut on an angle so as to converge upwardly and diverge downwardly.

Thus, "when a potato or other vegetable is mounted between the blocks in the half grooves,'the sp rings,.tending toforcc the .blockstogether, andth'e diverging Walls of the half grooves, will co-act to automatically force .the said potato or other vegetable into engagement with the cutting elements. In

this manner it is unnecessary-for the attendant to force, thevegetables withhis hand-and all danger-of injury during the cutting and slicing operation is thereby overcome;

It will be observed that by" mounting the i ilinife member" 10, as illustrated" and described, the upper surface of that lniife'n'iem- 'bcr presented to the. potato or othorwege tablepassing thereover ispositionedbn a downward incline from the knife edgc 11-toward the rear end of the device". This incline serves to permit entrance of air between the potato beingcut and the upper surface of the knife-member, and-suction such as would cause the potato to cling to the upper surface of the knife member is thus effectively overcome. This incline of the knife member also serves to hold the vegetable being cut down into engagement with the cutting element.

In the foregoing description, I have disclosed a simple and efficiently operable device for cutting potatoes for use in making shoestring fries, French fries, German fries or Saratoga chips, and also for slicing vegetables, means also being provided for effecting the operations stated without danger rails mounted on the base frame above thebed, a vegetable holding carriage operatively mounted on the slide rails and comprising means continuously tending to feed the veg-etable downwardly toward the base to be engaged by the cutting mechanism, said last named means comprising a sectional holding block having inclined walls and yieldable means for forcing said'blocks toward each other with the vegetable between them.

2. In vegetable cutters of the character described, a base frame, a bed including an elongated approximately horizontal plate having a cutting edge at one end, means for securing the other end of said plateto the base frame, means for adjustably securing that end of the plate having the cutting edge to the base frame whereby the plate may be inclined to the horizontal at difierent angles,

' said bed alsoincluding a non-adjustable plate, said adjustable plate and said nomad justable plate being spaced apart, and a holder unit with a gang of vertical knives located in the base frame between the adjacent ends of said plates for the purposes specified.

3. In vegetable cutters of the character described, a base frame, a bed including an elongated approximately horizontal plate having a cutting edge at one end, means for securing the, other end of said plate to the base frame, means for adjustably securing that end of the plate having the cutting edge to the base frame whereby the plate may be inclined to-the horizontal at different angles, said bed also including a non-adjustable plate, said adjustable plate and said non-adjustable plate being spaced apart, and a body secured to the base frame in the space between said plates for the purposes specified.

ting mechanism carriedby the bed, slide rails mounted on the base frame above the bed, a vegetable holding carriage operatively mounted on the slide rails and comprising means continuously tending to feed the vegetable downwardly toward the base to be engaged by the cutting mechanism, said lastv named means comprising a pair of blocks and yieldable means for forcing the blocks toward each other with the vegetable-be t. In vegetablecutters of the character described, a base frame including a bed, a cuttween them, said blocks having opposed I vegetable receiving grooves," said grooves 1 having downwardly diverging walls.

5. Invegetable cutters of the character described, a base frame including a bed, a

cutting mechanism carried by the bed, slide rails'inounted on the base frame above the bed, a'vegetable holding carriage operatively mounted on the slide-rails'and comprising means continuously tending to'feed the vegetable downwardly toward the base to be engaged by the cutting'mechanism, said last named means comprising. a fixed block, av movable block, and means alwaystending to forcethe movable block against the fixed block, said blocks each having a half-groove in opposition to that of the other block whereby to cooperatively provide a vegetable receiving pocket between the blocks, said half-groove being whereby to provide downwardly diverging walls for said pocket for the purposes speci- 6. In vegetable cutters of the character described, a base frame including a bed, a

downwardly inclined cutting mechanism carried by. the bed, slide rails mounted on the base frame above the bed, a vegetable holding carriage operatively mounted on the slide railsand comprising means continuously tending'to feed the vegetable downwardly toward the base to be en gaged by the cutting mechanism, said carriage comprising a pair of end frames each having lateral feet adapted to be guided by lie.

the slide rails and laterallyiextended hubs.

guide rods secured in the hubs and holding the frames in opposed spaced relation, an

intermediate frame having laterally ex} 1 tended'hubs slidegiiided on-the guide rods,

and said vegetable feeding means comprising a fixed block carried by one end frame, a movable block carried by said intermediate frame, said blocks each having a half-groove in oppositionfto that of the other block whereby to cooperatively provide a vegetable receiving pocket between: the blocks, said half-grooves being downwardly inclined whereby to provide downwardly diverging walls for said pocket, and springs interposed between the intermediate frame and the other end frame always tending to force the movable block against the fixed block.

FREDERICK MILLER. 

